Strange Trio: Super Paper Mario
by readergirl-290
Summary: Three girls from Earth appear in Flipside soon after Peach enters the party. Will the prophecy of the Light Prognosticus come true if they help? Read to find out!
1. Ivy's time for an adventure

A/N: Uh...hi guys? -ducks incoming throwing knives- Don't kill me! I just don't have MS Word on this computer!! -knives stop- I'm still on a sort of hiatus for my other fics since I can't seem to think of anything for them. -sweatdrop- I will update as often as possible...that is, if Sera doesn't kill me first for making yet another fic without finishing the others. ANYWAY! I've already beaten Super Paper Mario, so I'll be on the plot as much as possible. And...well, you'll see...I only own Sera, Ivy, and myself. Also, I know I said that the name for myself would change every time (like, last year) but I can't think of a name that fits in besides Sam. Just so you know, my KH fics and my FF VII fic (the non-oneshot ones) are related (just imagine that the name's the same.

* * *

"Mwahahahahahaha!" An attempted evil laugh resounded through the empty house as Sam beat both of her made up friends at a multiplayer game on WarioWare: Smooth moves for the Wii. 

"You cheated!" Sera glared at her creator. Surprisingly, she wasn't wearing her trademark trenchcoat because she was sweaty from the games she had played. "You know how to play all of the games!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Not again!" Ivy sighed in annoyance. The 11-year-old knew that since her two older friends were so close in age and personality, there were bound to be clashes between them. Four little lights that were different colors winked into existance around the girl soon after her sigh.

"You stay outta this!" Sam pointed an accusing finger at the light that switched shades of blue every few seconds.

"I wasn't going to say anything!" Iciclia, the blue light, protested. Sam scoffed.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England." Ember, the red light, retorted. Gaea, the brown light, just stayed silent like she usually did. Gale, the gray light that flashed yellow at times, laughed heartily.

"Great, I'm surrounded by girls who won't stop fighting." Ivy complained.

"We're not fighting, this is just an ordinary spat between friends." Gale said quickly before she giggled some more. Suddenly, Sam's charm started glowing brightly. The curly-haired girl's eyes glowed with excitement. Sera's similar-yet-differently colored blue eyes started to shine as well.

"Well, it looks like we're off on another adventure ladies." Sera pulled on the trenchcoat that she had taken off previously and her reddish-brown messenger bag appeared in its usual place. All of the girls (including the bodyless ones) looked to it as the light grew too bright to see anything.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Flipside, Mairo, Tippi and Princess Peach had just come back from Merlee's Mansion with the third Pure Heart. When they stepped out of the elevator from the tower, a person ran by. 

"Three girls just appeared out of nowhere!" He shouted. Startled, Peach, Mario, Tippi, went up the elevator to the third floor. Sure enough, three girls were standing in the middle of the way looking confused. Two of the girls had similarly colored hair and eyes, yet you could tell that they weren't sisters. One had curly brown hair to her ears and was wearing a red t-shirt with jeans over sneakers. She also wore a necklace that was in the shape of a heart. The other teenage girl had straight, light brown hair that was cut short halfway up her neck. This girl wore a long coat that nearly touched the ground over a purple t-shirt and jeans over brown boots. A messenger bag that had a reddish brown color hung over her left shoulder with the bag part resting on her right hip. The third girl was the youngest of the three by far with dark green hair in a short ponytail and the same colored eyes. She wore a light green t-shirt with what looked like a vine pattern all around it with jeans as well with sneakers. All three of the girls looked up from their musings to stare at the group.

"It looks like our introductions are a bit early this time, girls." The curly-haired girl remarked.

* * *

If some of you out there are former/current/whatever fans, you'll notice that this is the first time I've ever used Ivy in something other than my Author's notes. And, if I ever get MS word again, I'll try to update more often than I do...-sweatdrop- Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter! 


	2. Our powers are gone!

Me: Hehehe...

Sera: ...Mph...-is currently tied up in a room enforced by about 3 ft. of lead and a foot of titanium-

Me: I wish I could tell you that I'm updating my other stories...but I'm not. This story is just easiest to think about since I made it recently.

Sera: -is mouthing 'You suck'-

Me: Uh, yeah. I only own Sera, Ivy, and myself (Sam). Nintendo owns everybody else, etc, etc, etc.

* * *

Looking a bit uncomfortable, the girl with the curly hair turned towards Peach and Mario and addressed them. "I'm Samantha Pierce. This is Ivy Grant and Sera-coughfinacough- Elemantis." Having caught what Sam was trying to hide, Sera glared angrily. "Though I go by Sam and Sera goes by, well, Sera." 

"Hello, I am Princess Peach Toadstool and this is Mario and Tippi." Peach introduced her own group since Mario didn't seem to want to talk.

"A pleasure to meet you." Ivy replied politely. Sera nodded and Sam beamed while nodding as well. Suddenly, the ground shook as the void grew a little bit. All three of them, not expecting the mini earthquake fell over.

"What the-!?" Sera gasped. She sat up and snapped her fingers twice. Nothing happened. Sam looked confused for a second before realizing what had happened.

"Your powers..." Sam couldn't finish her sentence because Ivy let loose a cry. Everyone turned to the young girl as she held a small bud in her hands.

"I-I can't-" A sob escaped her throat. Sam hugged the green girl sadly and muttered a word in another language. Nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Tippi asked in confusion. The three girls stood up and Sam attempted to explain what all three of them had lost.

"Well...Sera, Ivy, and I have a magic of sorts and..." Sam tried another word and nothing happened yet again. She continued sadly, "It's gone. I can't use magic, Sera can't control the elements and Ivy can't control plants anymore." A bright yellow light shone as the Pure Heart that Mario had with him glowed. He took it out and Sam's necklace seemed to change colors from red to yellow. "The Pure Heart..." She whispered as the light faded and Mario put it back.

"It seems that you three are important." A voice called from behind Mario and Peach. They turned around to find Merlon walking towards the girls. His wisened eyes seemed to look deep within the three. "The Pure Hearts need to be found and returned to the Heart Pillars. Will you help Mario and Peach as well as the other two heros when the time comes?" Sam nodded first with Sera and Ivy nodding soon after. "Very well then. The next Heart pillar is somewhere in Flipside. My instincts are rarely wrong about something like this." He turned around and headed back downstairs. Tippi flapped her wings nervously.

"...Let's go then." Everyone nodded and went to the elevator. As it was being lowered, Sam had a thought. _Could we really be 2-D? It doesn't feel like it..._ The doors opened, and the group stepped out onto the second floor of Flipside.

"This way, ladies." Mario flipped into the third dimension, taking the group with him. While Sam could not control her movements (Mario was leading at the moment **A/N: That's what I'm sticking with for the 'whole group behind one person' thing in most RPG's**) she still marveled at how different the world seemed now. He led them all down a couple of pipes into a room with what looked like a dead end. The plumber took out Slim and flipped so that he could sidle through a very thin hole in the wall. On the other side was the Heart Pillar. He raised his hands and the Pure Heart fit itself in the middle of the white pillar. Yellow colored gears appeared around the Pure Heart and turned so that something happened several floors above the group. Using the Return Pipe, Mario and the gang teleported directly to the tower. During all this time the girls were silent, without even attempting to start a conversation. As they stood in front of the yellow door, Sam felt a sense of foreboding.

"Guys, I don't know if we should go in there..." Sam whispered to her friends.

"But we promised, Sam. You're always saying 'keep your promises' so we should keep this one." Ivy whispered back firmly.

"Besides, what could p-" Sera was interrupted by Sam hissing, "Don't. Say. That. Phrase." So against the curly-haired girl's judgement, all five (six if you counted Tippi) people went through the yellow door to a new world.

* * *

Me: I'm surprised that no one reviewed...

Sera: -Is still tied up but is smirking-

Me: I hope you guys like it...


	3. Sera is taken by Francis

Me: I will explain how and why my characters lost their powers at a later date.

Sera: You'd better.

Ivy: -Is trying to look mean but fails miserably since she's too cute- Hey! I can read! -Oops, sorry-

Me: Stop breaking the fourth wall, narrator! -Well _excuse_ me.- Heh, I only own Sera, Ivy, and Sam as well as the changes to the story of Super Paper Mario.

* * *

The Bitlands formed themselves as the group stepped through the door. It vanished as soon as everyone stood on solid ground and Tippi flew a little ahead. 

"I feel that the Pure Heart is nearby, but..." Out of nowhere a very long pink tounge grabbed Tippi and started to pull her. Sera jumped into action by holding onto the tounge, but was overpowered and pulled in as well. A few seconds later, a very tall, green chameleon with taped-up glasses and a tacky yellow shirt with stars and mushrooms printed on it appeared out of what used to be thin air.

"Hi-Technicaaaaaal!! An ultra-rare digibutterfly _and_ a human male!" The chameleon said in a nasally voice. "Wait'll my buddies on Digibutter.nerr hear about this!"

"I'm _not_ a boy!" Sera shouted as she struggled in the ultra-geek's clammy hands. Apparently unheard, the chameleon vanished taking both Tippi and Sera with him.

"Sera!" Both Ivy and Sam shouted while running foreword. "Tippi!" Peach and Mario shouted as well. It was too late, the nerd had taken their friend _and _the Pixl. Cursing under her breath, Sam stopped in front of a nearby bush. Ivy stopped as well and looked about to cry.

"Hey, what's up?" (**A/N:** **I can't for the life of me remember the actual dialouge. Please forgive me if I mess up too badly.**) A circular Pixl with blue spikes around came out of the bush that Sam and Ivy were standing in front of. "Sorry about your friends being taken by that nerd, Francis. That's a shame."

"We're going to get them back." Sam said determinedly.

"What!? Are you crazy!? Francis' Fort is, like, all creepy and full of geeky and nerdy things. Do you really want to go?" All four of them nodded. "Well, I can help you guys get there with a few tips. You interested?" Mario nodded, since he was the leader of the group in a way. "Ok if you keep going on, a huge castle is going to be in your way. Just do your thing with the **red X** and you can go through. Next up, you'll have to cross the ocean to get near the Fort and there's this really mean blooper. Pound him on his **red flipper** a few times and he'll go away. Then, you'll be faced with a gorge the you can't cross even if you float. Just use the **red wind** and it'll be a lot easier."

"Why is some of what he's saying in bold?" Ivy whispered to Sam. The older girl just shushed her to prevent the fourth wall from breaking within the story.

"If you need to hear them again, just call." The Pixl jumped back into the bush. The four humans looked at each other for a few seconds. Finally, Sam broke the silence by saying, "Well, are we going to save Tippi and Sera or what?" Mario and Peach smiled and the group started heading in the direction the Francis had gone.

* * *

Me: Sorry if my chapters are a bit too short, I can't really tell what the length is using the Notebook program... 

Sera: Not to mention that she doesn't want to overload you people with information in one chapter.

Me: Yep. Read and Review, Please!


	4. Tippi and Sera talk and Sam's mad

Me: Wow, I'm actually updating pretty regularly...

Sera: Yeah, until school starts again and you update less and less often until you just stop updating at all.

Me: ...While that is true, I just want to post as much of the story as I can before I head off to Houston for a while.

Sera: Right.

Me: I only own Sera, Ivy and Sam. The changes to the story are also mine.

* * *

In Francis' Fort, Sera is undergoing the most embarrassing photo session she had ever been in. 

"If I had my powers right now I'd kick your tail to Mars." She muttered as Francis took yet another photo of her fellow prisoner, Tippi.

"Quiet down, Frank! I'm trying to get the perfect picture of Francine!" Sera shuttered in revulsion. _Frank _was the name the chameleon had given to her since he didn't believe that she was a girl. More importantly, the trenchcoat-wearing girl was very unwilling to prove that she was female to the nerd. "There! Now to upload it and take a quick nap!" Francis scurried out of the room, leaving Tippi and Sera alone.

The rainbow-colored Pixl asked, "What's Mars?" Sera turned her head in surprise and answered, "It's a known planet in my...world. It's farther than the moon, yet it's not the only other planet in the solar system."

"Why threaten to kick his tail there if it doesn't exist here?" Sera shrugged.

"Force of habit I guess; I threaten to kick Sam's butt there every week or so."

"Why would you threaten a friend?" Tippi seemed astonished.

"Eh, _everyone_ fights every once and a while. Sam's just lucky that most of her fights are picked with me instead of her other friends and family."

"..."

"Besides, it's fun the hear her try to explain how it _couldn't_ work even if I tried." Tippi looked relieved at that explanation. "So what about you? Do you have any friends or family that you'd like to talk about?"

"...I don't remember. Merlon told me that I just showed up in Flipside one day and he took me in. Before that...nothing." Sera looked simpathetic. Reaching through a space in her cage, she tried to touch the Pixl to provide comfort. Her fingers could barely go through the bars of Tippi's cage, but Sera managed to touch a wing gently before pulling her arm back.

"Hey, at least you have one. Merlon could be considered your family now." Tippi looked up. The human girl was now the one to look away. She reached into a pocket of her coat and pulled out a golden heart-shaped locket. It opened up, but Tippi couldn't see what was inside it because of the angle. Sera closed it again and put it back in her pocket before continuing, "I guess you could say that Sam and Ivy are my family too." Tippi was about to answer back when Francis burst into the room to take more pictures.

"Nerrrrrr. Everyone wants more pictures! Look lively Francine!" The camera flashed, and the conversation ended.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mario, Peach, Ivy and Sam had just gotten out of the very familiar underground cave when they were stopped by a koopa in a small 'castle'. 

"Haaaaaaaaaaalt!" The koopa with the soccershell shouted. "Yeah, you! This is Bowser's castle, and his Burliness doesn't like chumps like you geekin' up the place! You're about to get a complimentary nose job courtesy of my shell! Come on out fellas!"

"YEEEEEAH!" Koopas jumped to the top of the castle. Mario, being familiar with them, flipped into the third dimension and jumped onto the first floor to attack. He flipped back and jumped on the soccer koopa first before jumping on his shell to knock out the koopa in front of him. Then, he ran under the top troops and jumped onto a second castle. Mario knocked out the hammer-throwing koopa there and took out the Bill Blaster with several uses of Boomer. Towering above the group finally, was the largest castle of the three. On it's side was a red 'x' that was the about same height as Princess Peach. Mario quickly used Boomer next to the 'x'.

'KABOOOOOOOOOM!' went the castle as the koopas guarding it went flying. A dark shadow grew smaller on the ground as Bowser, King of the Koopas landed on his stomach.

"Bwarrgh!" He roared. "Please tell me someone didn't just blow up my awsome lair..." Mario and Co. moved a little closer to the huge koopa. Seeing Mario, Bowser stood up and shouted, "Hey! I know that 'stache from somewhere..." He then recognized his hated enemy. "MARIO! ...And Princess Peach!?" A goofy smile crossed his lips before he remember who else was there. "Why do you _always_ have to do that! It's like the 100th time you've come to my castle and screwed everything up!" With another roar, Bowser stomped on the ground. The force of it sending Peach, Sam and Ivy fly backwards. Two pillars materialized around Mario and the Koopa King, isolating them for a battle.

"Men. Why do they feel the need to fight instead of talking it out like most women do?" Sam muttered to herself as she watched the fight via a convenient hole in the pillar in front of her. Of course, Mario won since he used Boomer to damage Bowser. The pillars vanished and the girls walked to stand next to the victor.

"Ah, Princess Peach! My lovely wife!" Sam and Ivy anime fell over while Peach denied the wedding to be binding. Bowser recounted how he and what minions he had left escaped Count Bleck's castle (**would it _really _be called escaping if he did nothing?**) and Mario and Peach told about how the worlds were going to end thanks to the mysterious villain.

"That's why we need your help. Why don't you come join us?" Bowser turned around and crossed his arms.

"No. I don't wanna. I'd think about if it was for you, but there's _no way_ I'm helping Mario or those kids who haven't talked at all yet."

"There's no time for you to be a big baby about this! We need your help!" Bowser retorted by going into a minor monolouge about himself and why he won't help Mario (Sam was too bored to listen very carefully). "Pleeeease? For me?"

"No. I don't wanna." Finally, Sam's patience ran out.

"Listen here, you big turtle!" The 16-year-old stomped up and grabbed a bunch of his flaming red hair. She pulled hard enough to get the koopas full attention and eye contact. "My friend is stuck in that Fort with God-knows-what things being done to her and you're just sitting here like a **coward** trying to get out of helping us because of your hate for Mario. Well you're just gonna have to live with it because you're coming with us or else. Got it?" Bowser nodded and Sam let go of his hair. She walked back to where Ivy was feeling a lot better than she had been earlier. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the Koopa King laughed heartily.

"Now _she's_ someone I'd like in my army. Great attitude, and a terrific temper. Minions!" The Goombas, Koopas, and a koopa with a soccershell lined up. "I'm gonna be gone for a while, so hold the fort for me before I get back."

"Yes, Lord Bowser!" All of the minions shouted with an undertone of "Paaaaarty!"

"Let's go then, wimps!" Bowser shouted. The group reformed with him in the lead and on they went towards Francis' Fort.

* * *

Me: I just _had _to put that part there. Like I said in the previous chapter, I followed the actual dialouge as much as possible with minor to major changes depending on what the situation was.

Sera: She's gonna do that the entire time, folks.

Me: R and R please!


	5. Underwater adventure

Me: Ya know...I've always wondered how Mario could survive underwater in most of his games...he doesn't need air in the 2-D ones!

Sera: _I, _however, can survive perfectly fine underwater since I can control water and air.

Gale and Iciclia: HEY!

Sera: -sticks her tounge outat the two of them- Why did I do that...?

Me: Why do I get the feeling that something screwy's going-Oh wait, the rating's K-plus not T, duh. I only own Sera, Sam, and Ivy.

* * *

The ocean was beautiful. Mario, Peach and Bowser jumped in without worrying, but Sam and Ivy stayed on the shore. After a minute or two, Peach resurfaced. 

"Come on in! We have to save Tippi and Sera!" A glance at each other only provided more apprehension to the Earth girls.

"Won't we drown?" Ivy asked loudly. Peach laughed and motioned for the younger girls to jump in. Biting her lip, Sam dove into the water, followed by the 11-year-old. The two girls sank to the bottom, most known truths on Earth being shattered with their not being able to float or drown. Ivy stared in wonder. It had been a very long time (to her) since she had last been swimming. Not to mention the Cheep-cheeps of the Mario universe were very weird.

A muffled shout brought the girls' attention to Bowser and Mario standing a short distance away. Slowly, Sam moved foreword by walking and using her arms to push her foreword. Ivy copied her older friend. Peach swam gently to where the rest of the group was after the younger girls had jumped in. Since talking was pretty much impossible despite being able to breathe underwater, Bowser took the lead and swam quickly through the level, breathing fire (impossible!) on any enemy in his way with the others following him closely.

Soon, the group came to a place with raised pegs next to a trapped pipe. Reluctantly, Bowser let Mario be the leader as the plumber flipped the group and swam up to the pipe. Upon entering it, Sam had a feeling that something important (besides a new Pixl) was nearby. Mario swam to the right (**Argh, this 2-D stuff is confusing at times**) and dodged a huge blooper flipper while avoiding a whirlpool at the same time. Swimming to a nearby pocket of air, the red-clad plumber jumped into the nearby pipe. He emerged in another cave-like area with a hallway to the right. By this time, Sam was already used to being 'controlled' by a leader and was thouroughly enjoying the sights as Mario blew up annoying spiky-headed goombas with Boomer. Finally, after another swim, the group ended up in a large locked room filled with bloopers and cheep-cheeps. Instead of trying to defeat all of them individualally, Mario used a Thunder Rage which made short work of the enemies. A large chest appeared and the plumber opened it. Out popped Thudley, the stomping Pixl. Sam, having played the game, didn't really pay attention to this 'conversation' either.

"Let's go!" She shouted as loud as she could. It was the equivalent of a spoken word and the words were a little garbled from the water, but everyone got the picture. A stomp on the pillar next to the door unlocked it and the group swam on. When they got to the pocket of air they had originally found, Sam suggested going further into the cave to see what was there. Mario agreed and led the group around more huge blooper tentacles and another whirlpool before they discovered a second air pocket. After jumping out of the water, the residents of the Mario world studied the picture painted on the wall while the Earth girls spied something unusual.

It was a round jewel that was stuck in the wall. It was blue in color, but seemed to change to different shades of blue as they kept watching it. Only when Sam touched the jewel did she realize what it was. It was as cold as ice, yet felt as if it was fished out of the water a minute or two ago. It _had _to be the personality of Sera's that represented her water and ice powers: Iciclia, the former blue light from Earth.

"It's Icy!" Sam whispered to her younger friend. The green girl's eyes widened and she tried to get a hold of the jewel in the wall. Try as they might, niether girl could get a grip on it. The curly-haired girl then noticed a fine crack coming from the 'jewel's' position to the floor. That could only mean one thing in the world of games... "Mario, may I borrow Boomer for a second?" Surprised at her question, he called the bomb-shaped Pixl up and let it go to Sam. Without thanking him, she placed Boomer on the floor and made it blow up immediatly. The crack widened, and Sam was able to pull out the blue sphere.

_"Sam...Ivy...? Is that...you...?" _A ghostly voice called out of the gem. Everyone execpt for Ivy and Sam were shocked.

"It's us, Icy, don't worry. We're gonna get you to Sera soon." Ivy said with tears forming at the good luck.

_"Gale...Gaea...Ember...do you know...where they are...?" _Iciclia's voice was growing a little stronger, but it was still very weak. Sam pressed the gem into her hand unconsiously. A bright blue glow surround her and faded quickly. Sam now looked completely different. Her dark brown hair was now a sky blue and still very curly, and her eyes were the same color as the water they had recently swam in. Even her clothes, which were recently a red shirt with blue jeans, became a navy blue shirt and navy pants. Sam's heart-shaped necklace had turned a sky blue as well.

"Sam...no...Iciclia?" Ivy asked nervously. This had _never _happened before, even in Sam's imagination. The now blue-clad girl only reacted to the second name.

"Ivy? Is that you?" The tone of the teenager's voice even changed to a slightly more fluid-sounding one without a definite accent. "Why are you smaller all of a-" Suddenly realising that she was not alone with the 11-year-old, the possessed Sam turned around to face Peach, Mario and Bowser. "Who are you? And where am I?"

"D-don't you remember, Sam?" Peach asked, frightened by this new development. "I'm Peach, and this is Mario and Bowser, remember?" The teenager was going to ask a question, when she recognized the three from Sam's constant ramblings of the Mario world and figured out things from there.

"Egad..." She whispered, and then shook her head and explained aloud, "I'm not who you think I am. Apparently I've taken over _Sam's_ body instead of Sera's. You see, I am the part of Sera that has jurisdiction over her ice and water powers...for example," A large globe of water materialized in Iciclia's hands. It then froze after a few seconds. All of those in the audience who were not familiar with this display of power were shocked yet again. Icy dematerialized the ice globe and continued, "It seems that Sera is in trouble, or she would be here with us, demanding how in the world I became separated from her in the first place." She smiled softly. "I shall return to my jewel form, as I can feel my strength returning at last and Sam nagging me to let her have her body back. I hope that we can have a _real _conversation soon over iced tea and watermelon. See you around!" With that, the blue glow returned, but Sam was back to normal and holding the bejeweled Iciclia-sphere in her hand. This time, though, the sphere had a ring on it. It was as if the girl within it wanted them to take her to Sera safely on Sam's necklace. Obliging to the unspoken request, the curly-haired girl fitted the jewel on her necklace to be used at a later date.

"Well?" Sam's normal voice was a relief to everyone present. "Aren't we gonna help Sera and Tippi? Come on, ya'll!" She dived head-first into the water with everyone else following.

"Hmmm." A voice mused as the group ventured further into the ocean. "I have underestimated that girl's abilities. No matter. Those girls won't stand a chance against Count Bleck. After all, they're not even the real heros of prophecy! All that I need to do is make certain that he doesn't find out, of course...Ah ha ha ha ha!" A sound of snapping fingers resounded in the small chamber and the voice was stilled.

Now, the group was in a largely open area under the water with huge piranha-like fish swimming above. As they swam over a huge gap, a very loud voice (even underwater) bubbled the water around them and scared the fish away. Sam and Ivy, being from Earth, couldn't understand a word that the giant blooper was saying. They both understood that a fight was about to take place, though since the tentacles of the blooper surrounded them from all sides. Mario took the lead and dodged the blue tentacles as he searched for the red one. The red tentacle raised to the top and the heavy plumber hit it using Thudley. After two more rounds of hitting the red-colored flipper, the blooper swam away in defeat. The group swam down to a pipe and on the other side loomed a humongous tree. No one could even see the top, it was so high up. Still pumped up from the fight, Mario and the other headed for their next stop to their destination.

* * *

Me: Sorry it's gonna take so long to upload the entire story, folks.

Iciclia: I was in the story! Yay!

Ember: Oh shut up, you wet noodle.

Iciclia: Care to repeat that? -glares at Ember-

Ember: You heard me, Ice Queen. -glares at Icy-

Me: Uh, before these two destroy everything in their path, please review.


	6. Sam's ice magic and Dimentio fight

Me: -is coughing in debris-

Sera: ...-anime vein on forehead- If those two weren't a part of me, I'd kill them.

Ember and Iciclia: -are knocked out-

Gale: Hoo boy...look's like clean up's gonna be longer than it usually is...

Gaea: -shakes head-

Me: At least _I _had a good Fourth of July. I only own Sera, Sam and Ivy.

* * *

At the base of the tree, Mario immediatly took charge and jumped quickly from platform to platform. Sam followed, swatting mosquitos in annoyance. Ivy didn't mind the bugs, but enjoyed the view from the humongous tree. Finally, at the very top, there was a star door that some bark had grown over. Bowser made quick work of it and the group proceeded within. (**I _really_ hated this part of the game since there was so many ways that you could lose your place and fall to the bottom.**) They then went up the first pipe and activated the first switch. Mario then led the way down the pipe again and jumped up the platforms that had appeared. He jumped onto the second switch and used the nearby blue platform to jump onto a moving one. Jumping onto a second moving platform, Mario took out Thudley and pounded the pillar to the right. This made a ladder from the floor below build itself up and allowed the plumber to jump on the switch again in order to continue. He climbed up the ladder and timed his jump carefully so that he wouldn't fall off of the moving platform. A quick jump to the floor above surprised the Dayzee there and let him defeat it before it could sing. Unfortunatly, there was a second Dayzee nearby and it's song put Mario to sleep. Knowing the annoyance of Dayzees, Sam pointed at the monster and muttered a weak ice spell out of habit. Amazingly, the spell worked and the singing flower became frozen. 

"It worked!?" Sam gasped. Not wanting the flower humaniod to unfreeze, she jumped onto the pink platform and used the momentum to jump on top of the Dayzee. The ice broke into many pieces and the monster with it. The teenager motioned for the others to follow and they did after shaking the only male human in the group awake. Mario looked around a little after waking up, but then went in Sam's direction after everybody just in time to jump onto yet another moving platform. Looking around, the curly-haired girl recognized the most annoying part of this level when she had an idea. Experimentally, Sam searched through her memory for the words to her most powerful ice spell. At the same time Mario went into the pipe that could only be reached through flipping. The others were either thinking about something or watching what Sam was doing (Ivy was doing this, since she knew the teenager the best out of the rest of the group).

Muttering the incantation, the 16-year-old's frame glowed light blue with the power of the spell. She drew the shape of what she wanted from the spell in her mind and raised her arms in front of her. Sam had never tried this before, but no one had ever told her that it _couldn't_ be done either. Ivy, sensing what her older friend was doing even while nothing still happened backed up a little. Peach looked up from staring at the floor and saw Sam's spell first take hold. A staircase started at the teen's feet (which were at the edge of the platform the group was currently on) and slowly grew using Sam's concentration and memories of the level. Bowser had broken his constant staring at the princess in order to watch this amasing event occur. Even Mario's coming out of the pipe bleeding from the spikes and annoyed at not being able to figure out how to get past them could stop the three (now four) from staring at the growing, curving starcase of ice. Finally, Sam put down her arms and breathed in and out a couple of times before looking back at the wide-eyed group.

"What are you waiting for? It's not gonna last forever, even with all of the magic I poured into it." With that she started climbing up the staircase slowly, as if it pained her to do so. Ivy, followed by Bowser, Peach and Mario started up as well. While she had been shaping the spell (known as Blizzaga in some worlds), Sam had remembered the moving platforms and made sure to avoid their paths in order to not break either her concentration or the ice. When the group reached the top of the magically summoned stairs, it was already disappearing. It vanished as soon as Mario jumped on the blue exclamation box. At the same time, a star door appeared on the top floor.

"Are you ok, Sam?" Ivy asked quickly. The teenager looked more tired than she usually did.

"I'm fine, just a little low on MP." She smiled a little and jumped down to the floor before last after Mario before she had to answer any more questions.

"MP?" Peach asked while gently floating down the entire way using her umbrella with Ivy holding onto her waist.

"Magic Power. In some worlds, it's the measure of how much usable magic is left in a magic user's body. It seems that when Sam found Icy, her ice magic came back to her."

"Then why does she look so tired?" Peach avoided a Dayzee's song and continued floating down.

"Maybe she has less magic than before all this started because she didn't have any until recently. Sam's told me about something like that happening to someone she knows." The two girls landed safely on the floor followed closely by the Koopa King, who had jumped his way down. The group entered the pipe to the top floor, then shortly thereafter went through the star door.

"Ah ha ha. Finally, you arrive!" A voice called out. A man wearing a yellow-and-purple jester outfit and had what looked like a half-black, half-white mask on floated into view. "You don't wear tardiness well." Confused, Mario actually spoke.

"How do you know me?" The jester gave another laugh.

"From the festival of hair that dances upon your lip! I am a humble servent of Count Bleck. Master of Dimensions...Pleaser of crowds...I am...Dimentio!" The group took a fighting stance, even Sam and Ivy even though they couldn't fight hand-to-hand combat very well. "It is truly enchanting to finally meet my hapless victims. I have prepared a special morsel of a treat for you!" He raised a hand in the air and twirled his index finger. Suddenly, instead of being at the top of an impossibly large tree, the group had ended up in a room-like area that was colored with different shades of green and yellow. "How about some...MAGIC!" Dimentio yelled in delight. "And...voila. You are now in Dimension D, a dimention of my own creation. In this mind-bending realm, my attacks are 256 times more potent! I am now far more powerful! I could obliterate you with a single raise of an eyebrow!" During his speach, Sam had taken the blue jewel off of her necklace and now pressed it against the palm of her hand. _I'm gonna need more than my depleated magic reserves in order to help beat him... _She thought before allowing Iciclia to take over for the second time. No one noticed the breif glow now, since all of their attention was on Dimentio. "Now we must duel, like two gleaming banjos on a moonlit stoop!"

The battle started with Dimentio floating towards the ceiling and raising his arms in a spell of some sort. Boxes grew near the heros and everyone jumped out of the way of all of them before they exploded. He then floated towards the floor and raised an arm to throw a blast, but was foiled by Sam-turned-Iciclia's iceball (**Like a fireball, only made of ice. Duh.**). The jester teleported near Mario and was jumped upon by the plumber. Seeing that his initial plan wasn't going to work, Dimentio teleported higher above the group saying, "Can you pierce this...illusion?" With a snap of his fingers, the jester-looking man was now two identical copies of himself and both were getting ready to throw a blast.

"Duck!" Iciclia called and followed her own advice by diving in between two of the blasts since they had split into three. Mario and Iciclia split up to attack the counterparts. Only one of the two could be the real Dimentio. Mario jumped at the clone he was near, but fell through and was damaged by one of the blasts. Icy, however, threw another iceball into the 'clone' she had picked and hit the real one. The villian teleported near the floor and was jumped on by Mario again. This pattern of attack continued between the three until the plumber jumped on Dimentio a final time, and the jester-like man finally fell to the ground in defeat. Iciclia returned Sam to normal and her jewel form was reattached to the necklace the teen wore.

"Your blows are like miniature jackhammers weilded by tiny, angry road workers! How is this possible? Even if you had the help of that Ice Witch, I was 256 times more powerful..." Sam felt a pulse from her necklace, as if Icy had heard the insult from her jewel form.

"Perhaps this dimension makes _everyone_ inside it more powerful." The teen suggested. After processing this possibility for a few seconds, Dimentio laughed weakly and floated himself up again.

"Of course! This was simply an amusement that played out exactly as I had planned!" Sam could practically feel an anime sweatdrop forming on the back of her head. "Were you amused? This was just an hors d'oeuvre! The next time we meet, you shall have a deadly eight-course meal!" With that last horrible metaphor, Dimentio returned the group to the world they had recently left. "Ciao for now, my mustachioed foe!" And he was gone.

"Who was that man?" Peach asked the question everyone (except for Ivy and Sam, but they faked it pretty well) had in mind.

"Mmm...A little more, perhaps?" Dimentio appeared in the sky out of sight of the group of heros as they made their way to the top branches of the tree. "Though they have a powerful ally and are strong themselves, they must be stronger yet to defeat Bleck. I must make sure they can face him when the time comes around at last..." He paused dramatically. "At least, without the constant assistance of those meddling girls." The jester vanished with flair, like he usually did.

Sera: You're not making things any easier for the prisoners, are you?

Me: My answer to that, is you'll see. R and R please!


	7. Fight in Francis' Fort

Me: Sorry that this chapter is very short-cutty (not even a word, but you get my point), but I worked on the chapter all day today and I lost it before I could save proprly.

Sera: That's what you get for not saving earlier. Or copying it before trying to save.

Me: Yeah, yeah, yeah...I own Sera, Sam and Ivy as well as any non-original thing that's a part of the plot.

* * *

Inside Francis' Fort, the group was now discussing which of the three girls would enter the final room. They had just finished risking their lives against the nerd's machines in order to get the two keys to the final door, as well as a new Pixl, Carrie. The only problem came from what the security system had said upon using the two keys in their respective holes, "Only Master Francis and 'Hot Babes' are allowed to enter!" 

"The kids can't be it, they're too young to be 'hot babes'." Bowser remarked gruffly. It was as if he was worried about his 'wife' going in there to face Francis alone.

"Hey! I might be sixteen, but I'm not a kid!" Sam protested. "Though I agree that Ivy and I shouldn't go in. Francis might think that all girls where dresses or skirts, so even if we somehow got in he'll think we're guys!" All eyes went to the only candidate left.

"Oh alright. As long as Tippi and Sera are alright." Peach stood up and approached the computer-cat door. The others pulled themselves together (**the everyone-behind-one-person thing**) and followed. The security questions were all about nerdy things like video games, comic books, anime, and forum posting, and were true-or-false. The princess answered the questions as she thought Francis would (all true) and was allowed to enter the room.

"Nerrrr! Who are you?!" The nerd was facing the door, and couldn't see Sera making faces at him. "H-hey! What are you doing sneaking into my room, huh? Haven't you heard of p-privacy?"

"Oh, there you are, Francis! I've been looking _all over_ for you!" Momentarily pausing in her face-making, the trenchcoat-wearing girl smacked her forehead. She already knew without any help what Francis would do when a girl said a line like that.

"For...ME?" He started to sweat from nervousness. "O-O-Oh...O-Oh my gosh...It's...It's a hot babe..." The nerd threw his head back. "HOT BABE IN ROOM!"

"Hey, I'm a girl!" Sera called from the cage she was still in. "I've been telling you that ever since I got here!" Of course, Francis didn't listen and took out his laptop after a while of babbling.

"Booting up Swoon.exe! Activating Nerr2Babe interface mod with real-time wooing!" A curtain fell on the scene and lifted to show Francis and Peach in what looked like a Japanese Dating Sim. Sam, Ivy and Sera, knowing what it was and fortunate enough to be out of it yet still watching, laughed. Bowser and Mario didn't get the joke at all. Thankfully, all three girls stopped long enough to breathe in between fits of giggles. Francis tried, unsuccessfully, to woo the princess via the 'Swoon.exe' program. Upset at the program for giving her so few responses, (or that she couldn't choose the ones that she wanted to) Peach used Boomer to blow up the program.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! MY GRAPHICS CAAAAAAAARD!" A few seconds later, everything was back to normal. Francis then whined about how the program was the only known copy and that real girls were scary (**You got that right!**).

"Peach...?" Tippi asked, not believing that the princess would have come to a place like this just to save her.

"Peach!" Sera tried yet again to break the bars of her cage by kicking them with her boots. They weren't steel-toed though, so she only succeeded in stubbing her big toe...again...

"Tippi! I was so worried!" Peach said happily.

"You...You came. To save me?" The Pixl was so stunned she could only speak in broken sentences.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Sera complained, but smiled afterwords to show that she was joking. Confused at his prisoners' conversation Francis looked from them to Peach.

"So...So you've come to raid my fort and steal Francine and Frank? W-Well no! I won't let you!" Sera cringed at the name Francis had given her while he smiled. "B-By the way, I came up with their names on my own! Aren't they schweeet?" Yet another long period of Francis talking about how they were his only 'offline friends' and that nobody would take them away from him...wait, what?

"Hey!" The trenchcoat-wearing girl had time to say before being taken underground with Tippi. The chameleon then vanished.

"Nerrr! Can't see me? That's 'cause my invisibility powers are totally hi-technicaaaal! Francine and Frank are hidden, so you can get them! Feel the wrath of the gilted X-Naut in the season finale of 'The Grodus Chronicles'!" With that, the battle began. Bowser took the lead and listened carefully to the sound of Francis moving. As soon as the sound stopped, the chameleon reappeared and started typing on his computer. Before he could finish, the Koopa King jumped on top of him. This pattern of listening carefully and jumping on Francis at the right time continued until he fell over in defeat. The chameleon quickly got up, cried, then ran to the door yelling, "Mercy!"

The cages raised up and dissapeared promptly. Tippi flew out and Sera ran to her friends for a bone-crushing hug.

"Mario...You guys came to save me..." Tippi said, still amased that the group would do that.

"I missed you two _so_ much!" Sera released her breathless companions to have air again. "It was horrible! I thought you'd never come for me!"

"We'd never leave you, Sera!" Sam exclaimed. "Niether would we leave you behind, Tippi. We're your friends!" The Pixl butterfly was silent.

"Thank you..." She started to say quietly. "Thank you Mario!" Tippi added softly, "I'm so happy..." The Pixl started to glow brightly.

"What...is that!?" Bowser asked, confused. The green Pure Heart came out of Tippi and floated over Mario. Sam's necklace turned the same color green as she watched in awe.

"The Pure Heart...? But...how..." Even though everyone (well, everyone except the three earth girls) was confused, Peach gave and explanation.

"It's like Tippi's heart just burst with happiness and released a Pure Heart! Or..."

"Mario, I was just so happy that you had come to save me...Please...take it..." Tippi implored. In response, Mario lifted his hands and the Pure Heart came to him. The magic of the Pure Heart teleported the now-reunited group to the tower in Flipside.

* * *

Me: This might be the shortest chapter I've ever put up for this story so far.

Sera: I doubt it.

Me: R and R!


	8. Preperations for Space

Ivy: What is _with_ you people?!

Sera: 225 views and only two people who've actually reviewed. For shame.

Me: ...-sweatdrop- I really don't mind too much, it's just that I expect more, that's all. -shrugs- Well, that's what I get for posting my first stories in more popular areas. I only own Sera, Ivy, Sam, and anything connected with them that's not a part of the original plot. Also, since I'm horrible with remembering dialouge, I'm just gonna skip the bad guys' part.

* * *

The group now stood at the top of the white tower of Flipside. Merlon showed up and explained that the Pure Heart could only show up from a powerful pulse of love and trust. Peach speculated that the trust was from Tippi starting to trust them and the love was Sera being reunited with her friends. The old man agreed, when the void opened up a little more. He returned to his house and everyone decided to rest momentarily before finding the next Heart Pillar. 

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Sam took the blue jewel off of her necklace and handed it over to Sera. The lighter brunette's eyes widened as grabbed it with both hands.

"Icy?! I can't believe it! How did you get separated from me?" Like the water manipulator had predicted, Sera showed concern for why they were separated first. A blue glow came from the round jewel, and then faded as quickly as it had come. She paused in her questioning and seemed to have a slightly darker shade of blue eyes now. A smile came to the teen's lips as she connected the jewel to a red-and-blue colored bracelet that was previously hidden by the sleeves of her coat. "Well, I might not have very many answers, but at least I have some of my powers back." At that, Ivy and Sam cheered. The adults looked at each other in confusion. These girls were becoming stranger by the hour.

Finally, the six (seven for Tippi) headed down the elevator. Mario flipped and used Carrie to quickly enter the outskirts of the town. once at the end of the path, he flipped back and went to the left. There were five nails in the ground in a seemingly unorganized pattern. Taking out Thudley, Mario pounded the last two nails so that the pattern was even. The Heart Pillar appeared and the plumber lifted his hands to place the Pure Heart in it. Again, gears of a kind that might be seen in old clocks appeared and turned so that another door could be opened. Happily, everyone hurried back to the elevator in order to see which world they would go to next.

Once inside the green door, a vast space appeared around the group. Tippi was commenting with wonder, when Sam noticed that she couldn't breathe. Soon after, everyone else found this out and started choking. With a cry of fright, the Pixl managed to teleport the group back to Flipside.

"What just happened?!" Bowser shouted after regaining his breath.

"You can't breathe in Outer Space; it's impossible since it's a vacuum." Sam explained through deep gasps. At the bewildered looks the residents of the Mario world gave her, the curly-haired girl sighed and explained, "There's no air out there. It disappears as soon as it hits that kind of void."

"Perhaps Merlon has something that you could use to have air while in space." Tippi suggested. The group agreed and headed down the elevator again. Once at Merlon's house, the old man looked surprised at the discription of the new world. Looking through his shelves, he discovered that he had given away the perfect item for use in space. Disappointed, they had no choice but to talk to everyone to see where the item had gone. Sam suggested starting at the third floor and working their way down. Of course, the other two of the youngest members sided with her immediatly. Tippi also nodded (as best as a butterfly could, that is) so the group headed up the elevator to the recommended floor.

There, a young boy asked them to take his goldfish to a place with water. As our heros headed down yet again, Sam casually pointed out that there might be a source of water underground. Silently, Sera asked was her friend was doing. A sly smile was the only answer she got. After the group finally got the bowl, they cleaned it out and showed it to Merlon. He cast what looked to Sam like a spell to fit any head size and handed it back. They used the Return Pipe to avoid using the elevator and put on the bowl before entering the vastness of Outer Space again.

* * *

Me: Sorry if it's a bit short, but the amount of repition is staggering.

Sera: You're just being lazy.

Me: -frowns-


	9. Whoa Zone and Boss Fight

Me: Well, I've got more reviews at least...

Sera: Get to the point.

Me: Alright, alright...I'm gonna be cheating a little bit for this chapter. Since I can't quite remember the space levels as well as I would like to, I'm gonna have them all together as a flashback of Sam's. It takes place in the Whoa Zone (level 4-4) and continues on from there. I own Ivy, Sera, Sam and Sera's personalities.

* * *

Sam stared in wonder at the Whoa Zone. It completely defyed any physics that she knew (even more than before) and was very colorful and bright to boot. Looking around made the curly-haired girl remember what it took to _get_ to this strange place. 

When the group had first come through the door after recieving a way to breathe, they had followed an SOS signal to a hidden ship with a small alien named Squirps in it. Almost immediatly, the alien took charge and led the heros through many obsticles while helping out with a couple of unique abilities: shooting a beam of sorts with his mouth, and creating a portal that led the group to another area of outer space. Soon after, they landed on a planet with breathable air. Squirps needed to use the restroom badly, and everyone was forced to find paper for the strange person in the stall. As they explored while using the lighter gravity, Sam found the second jewel with one of Sera's personalities. It was on top of a very high cliff, and once she pressed the jewel to her palm, she became Gale. Her hair had become a lot more messy, and some of the numerous curls had become jagged like lightning. The color of her hair was now grey with blonde highlights (or was that blonde with grey highlights?) and her t-shirt and necklace had changed colors accordingly.

Gale had laughed heartily once she figured out that she wasn't in Sera. In fact, she decided to play pranks on everyone until they discovered the source of the change. Thankfully, the trenchcoat-wearing teenager figured it out before her more playful personality played any truly dangerous pranks, and the trickster went back to her jewel form to return Sera's wind and lightning powers, and to let Sam go back to normal. Finally, the group found paper in the form of an ancient clue and gave it to the Pixl, Fleep. He joined them and Squirps got to use the restroom at last. After they left the planet thanks to the new Pixl, and found that their alien guide was important to the space highway for some reason, since there were doors that needed him to be in a hole shaped exactly like himself. The little green alien hadn't answered a single question asked, but Sam 'had a feeling' that all of the answers would be revealed soon.

"Wake up, Sam!" The curly-haired girl blinked. Everyone else had gone through the door except for Sam and Sera. "Even when we're in a world that you like, you _still_ can't keep you're head out of the clouds, can you?" The lighter brunette said jokingly.

"Oh, shut up." Sam grumbled and followed her friend inside. Everyone was wondering what to do next as the two teens emerged from the door. Finally, they all agreed to go through the door that was visible. Once the group had passed through the door, Mario made certain to jump on the 'Space pigs' on the bottom floor enough times to get rid of them. Sam, meanwhile, had moved to where an opening to veiw the 'ceiling' was. She looked up in thought.

"I know that look." Sera stated. "You've got a plan, don't you?" As a response, Sam only nodded to herself and turned to her friend.

"Hand me Gale; I've got an idea." The curly-haired girl demanded. Hesitating a little, the other teen took off her grey 'jewel' and gave it to Sam. Within seconds, she had regained the persona of Gale. The now-mischevious girl smirked as if she was looking at something that nobody else could.

"Now _that's _a plan." Gale muttered, her voice very different from the kind and intellegent tone that Sam usually used. "Hold on to somethin'!" She raised her hands so that they were coming straight from her shoulders and incased the group in a bubble of wind. With a shout from the residents of the Mario world, the bubble lifted up, then flipped upside-down before landing on what was the ceiling about five seconds ago.

"What the-?!" Bowser shouted as he landed on a 'Space pig', squishing it into oblivion. Gale laughed aloud and motioned at the door.

"This makes things a ton easier! I'm gonna help everyone get through the Whoa Zone without having to go around in circles. C'mon, ya'll!" With that, the now-grey-blonde teenager went through the door before everyone else. As Gale had explained, things _were_ a lot easier with the wind manipulator around. There was the occasional, "Oops! I forgot to raise you higher than the wall; My bad!" or "I ran you into a monster! I'm _so_ sorry!" but other than that, it was smooth sailing to where Squirps was located.

"You guys didn't take too long, Squee! The Pure Heart is just ahead space grunts!" The little alien looked excited for some reason.

"Squirps. You've done well. You're a smart kid..." A voice called out.

"Squirple Squee! Spot it! Squirps is embarrased!" Squirps paused, looking confused. "Wait, who's voice was that, squoh?" A tall man in black overalls over a black long-sleeved shirt jumped on top of Squirps, knocking the poor boy out. His eyes were hidden by a black mask with white eyes, and he wore a green hat with an backwards green 'L' in a black background. The man chuckled.

"Wh-who are you?" Mario asked, getting into a fighting stance with the rest of the group.

"Who me? Just one of Count Bleck's more promising minions. The Green Thunder..." The man spun around and went into a pose that looked like an 'L'. "Mr. L!" Mr. L came out of his pose to point at the group.

"Mr...L?" Gale asked. She looked liked she was about to laugh.

"And I bet that you're Mario and Co. Well let's see here..." He gave a smirk. "We have Miss Pink-n-Frilly; Don't get kidnapped just yet! We have Mr. Jumpsallthetime himself, and the Big Turtle..."

"TURTLE?!" Bowser roared. Mario and Peach weren't pleased with his 'nicknames' for them either.

"As well as Little Greenie, Lightning Lass, and Tough Girl." Mr. L finished his insult. Ivy, Gale, and Sera glared.

"I don't know why, but I'm not liking this guy more and more by the minute..." The brunette muttered while taking off her trenchcoat (a very rare occasion) and handing it off to Gale. She stepped foreword and took a practiced fighting stance.

"What are ya gonna do, Girly? Slap a fly off of me?" Mr. L was _really_ pushing his luck.

"No, I'm gonna beat you into next Tuesday!" Sera growled and let off a few sparks as she punched the green man in the gut. His response was to jump high into the air. The brunette didn't follow him in the air, but dodged out of the way of his landing.

"Shouldn't we help?" Peach asked and took a step before Gale stopped her.

"The only times Sera takes off her coat is when she's too hot, she's going to sleep, or when she means to beat the stuffing out of something. Even for the first two, it's rare that she'll bother with taking it off. Sera means business, Princess, and that means that unless she's in trouble, we'll only get in the way." Gale's grey eyes seemed to have a hint of yellow in them as she recited the first bit of seriousness that Peach had ever heard from her.

Meanwhile, Sera had already found the pattern in Mr. L's attacks. She waited until he was about to shoot off towards the ceiling and quickly tripped him before adding a few punches into the mix. Soon, the green-and-black-clad man fell over. The brunette returned to where the group was and put her coat back on without a word.

"Oof! Impressive!" He commented surprizingly. "I guess there's but one thing to do then, hm?" Mr. L raised his arms and called, "COME TO ME, METAL BRO!" From thin air, a giant robot in the shape of Mr. L's face floated down to the ground in front of the group. "Ha ha! Do you like him?! That is my DEAR metal brother. He and I share a spiritual bond, you know. Yes, yes, and his name is...BROBOT!" The black-and-green-clad man jumped into the robot and showed up in the glass window where the 'L' was on Mr. L's hat. "Enough playing already...NOW FOR PAIN!" A sound of ripping paper was heard as the background was torn in half. The other half fell and the group found themsleves in their helmets and with Squirps again. "The gravatational laws of space allow Brobot's potential to be fully realized! Hey Miss I'msotough! Let's see who's the better fighter now!"

_"WHAT gravatational laws of space?" _Sam said mentally as Gale returned to being a jewel. Handing back the round jem, Sam took leadership of the group and started firing Squirps' lazer rapidly at Brobot while dodging lazer beams and missles. She seemed to be familiar with this kind of surrounding, even moving out of the way of the robot's mouth when it opened up to suck her up. As soon as she spied a blue candy bar, Sam fed it to the alien. The effect was a barrier that protected them from a long beam that Brobot had just showed. Finally, the machine exploded from within, ending the battle.

"Hey, this makes no sence!" Mr. L shouted in shock.

"No kidding!" Sam shouted as everyone was teleported back to the Whoa Zone. Count Bleck's newest minion fell from the 'sky' and landed on his stomach.

"N-no! You beat Brobot?!" He stood up slowly. He wasn't hurt, just very surprized that not one, but _two _teenage girls had beaten him one after the other. "Ugh...I'll let you off the hook for the rest of today, I suppose...But remember this...When Fortune smiles next, she'll smile right HERE! On Mr. L!" With that, Mr. L jumped over the group to wherever his hideout was located. Squirps then came up behind the group as soon as the minion was gone.

"Ugh...That was awful, squirp!" He complained. "We have to pull ourselves together, space grunts..." His little face then lit up. "The Pure Heart is ahead! Come on, squinkles!" Squirps ran (**...could you call it running if he has no legs to speak of?**) into the next room and everyone else followed him.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Squirps brought them here!" The little alien's voice called out. The group moved next to him. "Oh, we're finally here...Come on! Say hi to Squirps's mommy, squirp!" Inside the room was a large golden statue of a female alien holding a scepter. The alien looked a lot like Squirps probably would in a couple of decades, only with long eyelashes and full lips. "Yeah, this is Squirps's mommy! The queen of Squirpia! Her name is Squirpina XIV!"

"The queen is...your mother? So you are..." Tippi remarked in shock as she realized just who Squirps really was.

"Squirps is the prince of Squirpia, a once-great kingdom... My true name is...Squip Korogaline Squirpina!" Mario, Peach, Bowser, Ivy, and Sera were shocked. Sam and Tippi had already figured out that Squirps was important (or already knew in Sam's case). The little alien looked a little upset. "Sorry for not telling you...Squirps promised not to tell! It makes Squirps a target!" Squirps then went into a story about how and why he was alive after being placed in a hibernation capsule 1,500 years ago. He also gave a message that his mother had told him to give to the hero when he reached the Whoa Zone. Finally, he gave the group the Pure Heart, which was hidden within the queen's statue. After that, he curled up near the likness of his mother and fell asleep while everyone else warped back to Flipside.

* * *

Me: GOD that took a long time.

Sera: It doesn't help that you had writer's block on this chapter...

Me: I couldn't think of anything for a while! Ugh! Well, I updated both stories within a day of each other; That's good at least!

Sera and Ivy: Read and review!


	10. A chance meeting with the Count

Me: And now for a plot twist! Mwahahahahaha!

Sera: You're horrible at evil laughter.

Me: -sigh- I only own Sera, Sam, Ivy and Sera's personalities.

* * *

Sam felt weird once the group had gone through the green doors once again. It was a familiar feeling, but she couldn't quite remember where it was from... 

"Gwah ha ha ha ha ha ha! What'd I tell ya, huh?! You've got the king of all evilnes on your side! You can't go wrong!" Bowser's loud voice broke Sam out of her thoughts for a moment, and she smiled brightly at their victory. Tippi also seemed to be very happy for some reason.

"Yes, yes, tee hee hee...That said, we owe Squirps for helping us find this one...We should be grateful...and we should also thank Gale for helping us out in the Whoa Zone." The response to that was a slight glow from Sera's bracelet. While Peach noticed the change in Tippi's attitude, Sam found it very hard to concentrate on the conversation, the weird feeling growing. When Merlon came up and asked about what had happened, both Pixl and girl passed out.

"Tippi?! Sam?!" Sera shouted. Thankfully, the teenager had caught her friend before she had landed on the ground, and Ivy caught the rainbow-colored butterfly in her hands, since she was closest.

"All of you, come to my house at once! Hurry, now!" Carefully, the 11-year-old handed over Tippi and followed him. Bowser took it upon himself to carry Sam, since Sera had trouble even holding up the curly-haired teen. And so, all of the group went to Merlon's house. The old man laid Tippi on a table in the middle of the room. Sam was laying down on a bed at the back of the house that wasn't there in the game. Merlon seemed very worried. "Very well, let's all take a breath and gather ourselves here...I'm concerned...I don't know what's wrong with the girl, but Tippi may be unable to maintain her Pixl form for much longer."

"Her Pixl form? What the heck does THAT mean?" Bowser asked angrilly. "And what's the deal with Sam passing out like that?"

"Well, you see, Tippi was not always a Pixl...I found her in her true form, exhausted, cursed to wander through dimensions forever." Merlon turned around to face the group. "She was hanging by a thread, barely alive...so I took a desperate measure...Using my ancestors' magic, I transformed her soul into a Pixl...and this Tippi was born. Do either of you know what has happened to Samantha?" This question was directed at Sera and Ivy. The green-haired girl shrugged a little, but her older friend looked away for a second before answering.

"I do, I think." She sighed. "When Sam and I were having another adventure, she had gained the ability to see into the future until we left that world." Sera didn't look at anyone in particular while she continued. "But this is different. Whenever she saw the future, Sam would stand still and look off into space and not respond when asked a question." The light-brunette looked up into Merlon's eyes. "Something's telling me that what she tells us afterwords is going to be important. I don't know what, and I don't know how, but that's what I feel. I've learned to trust my feelings by now." Without a word, the old man nodded in agreement.

"You need to find the next Heart Pillar. I have a feeling that the both of them will be well after you do." With that, the group left Merlon's house.

* * *

.: Sam's P.O.V. :. 

My eyes opened to an unfamiliar room. I knew it was in Count Bleck's castle (black with white outlines are not very common anywhere else), but this was a room that I hadn't gone to while playing the game. In this room was Count Bleck, Nastasia, and Mr. L, a.k.a. Evil Luigi. Something made my perception move closer to the three and I could make out a conversation between them.

"So, what you are saying is that the heros had help? Asked Count Bleck." The Count self-narrated. The black-and-green clad man nodded.

"Yeah, there was this little girl with green hair and eyes and wore a green shirt too. And two teenagers, one wore a trenchcoat, and the other had very curly hair. But the weird thing about Miss Curly was that her hair and eye color changed before she beat Brobot! At first it was grey and blonde, and her eyes were grey too. Then, they changed to dark brown hair and light blue eyes. Miss Imsotough was pretty good at fighting with her fists, she looked like she'd done that kinda fighting a million times before! Weird, huh?" I inhaled sharply. _Mr. L's talking about Sera, Ivy and I! This could change the whole storyline! _I thought to myself.

"Um, 'k, so lemme write this down..." Nastasia took out a clipboard and pencil. "'Two teenage girls (one with fighting experience and one that can change her appearance) beat Mr. L, and a third girl (child) with virtually unknown powers and are with the heros.' Is that right?" Mr. L nodded, but I saw his face turn slightly red at the mention of being beaten. Count Bleck put his free hand under his chin.

"You may leave now, Mr. L. Count Bleck said while thinking." The newest minion saluted and jumped off to the repair bay (I think). "...Nastasia."

"Yes, Count?"

"This is very strange. There was no mention of those three in the Dark Prognosticus." The member of the Darkness Tribe opened said book and skimmed the pages. "...At least, not when I had read it before..." My eyes widened. _It's too late...we've changed the storyline! _"It says here that Mario had help from the curly-haired girl that Mr. L mentioned to defeat Dimentio as well...And that all three of them are from another world. Count Bleck read in wonder. He then turned to his trusted assistant." The Count did as his self narration said. "It seems that their only role is to provide help to the heros and nothing more...this is suspicious. The handsome count pondered. Perhaps..." He paused, and then looked in the direction that I was in. I inhaled sharply once again, but I couldn't tell whether or not he had seen me. His visible eye seemed to glare in my direction. "Perhaps they have a different role in this drama. You may leave now." Nastasia lowered her head and left via teleportation."I know you are there, child." A gloved hand grabbed what I felt as my wrist and pulled me so that I had eye contact with Count Bleck. Apparently I was like a ghost, only I knew that I wasn't dead. The name for what I felt I was finally came to me.

"I'm an astral projection, aren't I?" I asked. The Count nodded. "Great. Just when I thought I wasn't gonna get in any _more_ trouble..." He ignored my rambling and asked a question.

"What are you doing in this world? The Count asked with an angry tone."

"I don't know. Somehow I got teleported here and I'm gonna do the best I can to keep what should happen on the right track." I told a lie or two, but there was a lot of truth in them. Count Bleck's eye glared some more.

"I can understand Dimentio's defeat. He fought against you and the plumber together. Bleck explained slowly. What I don't understand is why you and your friends are with the heros when I hadn't read of you before."

"My friends and I have a habit of changing what's supposed to happen at times. It's one of my talents, you could say." Attempting to make a joke with a self-narrating, armless and legless count is not exactly what I had planned to do while in the Super Paper Mario world(s).

"...You are human, correct?" I nodded, nearly forgetting what the significance of being human was to the Count. "Bleck demands that you tell me what you know about a girl named Timpani. She looks a lot like you, only with longer and straight dark brown hair and darker blue eyes." Tears pricked my eyes when I saw the sadness and flicker of hope within his own. "She was cursed to wander forever by a cold-hearted man. Do you know anything of her?" When I shook my head, the sadness overcame the little bit of hope that he had left.

"If she came to my world, I have no idea. Things are very different where I come from...people might not even have taken notice if she did pass through. But, I know a lot more about other dimensions than most people." I smiled at the memory of the final part of the game and felt a tear move down my cheek. "I have a feeling that you will see someone unexpected soon. My feelings are rarely wrong about these things." I felt myself disappearing bit by bit until I saw a crack of light. I opened my eyes to the ceiling of Merlon's house and a rainbow-colored wing in my face. I sneezed loudly, scaring Tippi off of my nose.

* * *

.: Normal P.O.V. :.

"Ah, you're awake, Samantha!" Merlon called out. Sam sat up, rubbing an eye. There was a visible line from her eye to her chin, but the teen didn't notice it.

"Sam, were you crying?" Tippi asked while she landed on the curly-haired girl's knee. Looking puzzled, Sam touched her cheek where she had felt the tear fall just moments ago.

"I...I don't know..." She said in a daze. Before she could continue, Ivy burst through the door and jumped into a bear hug with her older friend. Thankfully, Tippi had flown out of the way before the 11-year-old could have squished her.

"Sam! I thought you'd never wake up! An' Sera said that you'd never done this before, an' we were all worried an'-"

"Whoa, slow down, Ivy!" Sam returned the hug while bewildered. "I'm not dead yet!"

"Are you alright, Tippi?" Both Sera and Peach asked at the same time. When that happened, the girls looked at each other for a moment before laughing.

"I think so." The Pixl fluttered a little. Mario and Bowser didn't really do anything; Women were weird in their own right (**heck yeah!**), and five of them in the same room after something tramatic was beyond their experience.

"So what did you see, Sam?" Mario asked when everyone had calmed down some. The curly-haired teen blinked a couple of times, and then thought for a moment before answering.

"I was in Count Bleck's castle. I saw Mr. L and the Count along with a blue-skinned secretary named Nastasia. Mr. L was telling about how he was beaten and the Count sent him away. Both he and Nastasia then talked for a little bit when Bleck noticed me. He sent her away and grabbed my arm to talk to me face-to-face. I told him a little bit of what I knew, and somehow got back here." At the stares of everyone else, Sam held up her thumb and index finger about a half-inch apart. "Like that much. Not enough for him to make any conclusion that he didn't have before. And apparently Sera, Ivy and I have shown up in the Dark Prognosticus." Merlon gasped at this. "I don't think that anything very important's mentioned about us, though." The old man closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them again.

"It seems that Fate has a hand in this. But no matter, you all need to find the sixth Pure Heart." Everyone nodded together and left the house. "Good luck," Merlon muttered. "You will need it."

* * *

Me: -evil-sounding laughter-

Sera: ...You _are_ evil sometimes, you know that?

Me: Review, or I won't write the next chapter! -turns to Sera- How's that?

Sera: Better...I guess...


	11. Ivy's been kidnapped!

Me: ...I'm just gonna get this over with. I only own Sera, Ivy, Sam and the changes to the storyline. Nothing else.

* * *

"Oh my! Where are we?" Tippi asked as the group stepped out of the door to the fifth world. Everyone looked around in confusion while the Pixl continued. "Quite a nice view from here in midair...but I can't yet see the Pure Heart..." Sam then realized something. 

"Wait...Midair...?" Gravity decided to work then and all of the group except for Tippi and Sera landed on a rock-hard platform.

"Oh...right, I should probably be on the ground too." Sera said as if gravity didn't matter. She floated down to where everyone else was groaning in pain and landed softly on her feet.

"Thanks, you're such a pal." Sam said sarcastically. The lighter brunette merely smirked and Tippi was reunited with them. A few seconds later, a weird blue creature walked up to the group of heroes.

"Big Rock That Watches hook us up! Follow me, brahs. Old Cragnon wants to talk." Shrugging to each other, they all walked to the last house in the row of stone homes. There, the Cragnon inside begged the heroes to 'hook them up' in order to fight the Floro Sapiens, flower creatures that had been kidnapping Cragnons lately. Ivy was thrilled that a species of flower could do such a thing and said it loudly enough to upset the elder before a shout came from outside. Quickly, the heroes ran outside to face the flower-people.

"Hey, check it out man! Haven't seen those before, have we?" A Floro Sapien with orangy-yellow petals said in a surfer accent. An identical flower-person came up next to the first one and looked over the group.

"Yeah, for sure, must be some sorta rare breed or something, right?" A similar accent was used by this one.

"Yeah, rare breed, totally! Sweet timing too! We need a Pure Heart polisher! Score!" After blinking several times, Bowser reacted to the information.

"What'd you say?! You! With the petals! What about the Pure Heart?!" The Floro Sapiens ignored the huge koopa.

"Our mighty leader, King Croacus, will be STOKED to have a rare breed! Let's tenderize them a bit and tote one back, dude!" Out of nowhere several Floro Sapiens appeared around the group, forcing everyone to fight. Everybody defeated the enemies with ease, at least they thought so until a scream caught their attention.

"SAM! SERA! MARIO! PEACH! BOWSER! TIPPI! ANYONE! HELP ME!" They all turned around to find the source of the voice, when Sam caught a glimpse of the flower-people running off through the star door with Ivy in tow.

"Ivy!" Sam shouted and started to chase the kidnappers. She was followed by everyone else in their hurry to save the 11-year-old. Unfortunately, the Floro Sapiens were too far away when the group had gone into the next area.

"If I had my fire powers, nothing would stop me from getting her back..." Sera muttered and punched her right hand into her left palm. Sam said nothing, but her clenched fists and teary eyes showed anger and worry. Not knowing what else to do, the Mario-verse residents convinced the teenagers to move on for now.

"We'll find Ivy, no problema." Mario smiled a little to reassure them.

"Yeah! And if any of those petal-jerks get near, I'll burn them to a crisp!" Bowser proclaimed with a thin stream of smoke coming from his mouth. Sam smiled sadly and nodded. Sera turned around and headed in the only direction that the Floro-Sapiens could have gone in silence. The others followed her quickly, trying not to mind the lightning-burnt enemies that unwisely got in the trenchcoat-wearing teen's way.

Soon, the group managed to bypass the block puzzles and huge elephant-like monsters. They were now in a new area that had more green plants than the previous one. After a little bit of avoiding enemies, the group came to a pool of water with a platform moving above it. Sam, ignoring the platform, jumped into the water and sank down to the bottom.

"Sam!" Sera called as a delayed reaction. She quickly glanced at the bottom of the pool from the side of the pool. The curly-haired mage was looking up with a goofy grin and a tablet in hand. She mouthed, 'I'm fine' and jumped up into the water above her head. When Sam surfaced, she quickly climbed the far side of the pool in order to avoid retaliation from her friend and ran into the next area a little bit ahead of everyone else. Once there, the group of heroes paused as they watched the Floro Sapiens jump into a green pipe that was covered by a yellow block soon after. Sera cursed quietly; Ivy had been unconscious in their vine-like arms.

"Don't worry about it, Sera," Sam patted her friend's arm while following the others as they went in the direction the Floro Sapiens went. "Ivy can take care of herself. She's not the weak little girl we took care of a year ago, remember?" Reluctantly, the lighter brunette nodded. With a smile, Sam ran to catch up with the rest of the group as they entered another area.

* * *

Me: My birthday's coming up! 

Sera: And she won't stop talking about it.

Me: I know the chapter's short, but it took me a while to think of anything to write...Please review!


	12. O'Chunks fight and Gaea

Me: I only own Sam, Sera, Ivy, and Sera's personalities. Nothing's changed _that _drastically...

* * *

In this new area of prairie, a huge gap with a floating platform blocked the heroes' way. Luckily Sera had her wind powers, so the group could cross the seemingly bottomless pit without any trouble. When everyone could feel solid ground beneath their feet, they walked past a group of rocks. 

"Showed up at last, did ye?" A Scottish accent made the group pause. Out of the sky fell a bulky man with long, segmented arms, an unruly brown beard, and eyes that looked in different directions under incredibly bushy eyebrows. He wore black-and-red armor breastplate, what looked like a red-and-black kilt, and his hands and feet were covered in the same kind of metal. "GRA-BLAGHY!" He cried when he had landed. Getting into a half fighting stance, he continued on with his monologue. "I've not been made teh wait like this since that fine lass stood me up long, long ago! Yeh did this to break me concentration, didn't yeh?! Yeh likes the cheatin', eh?!"

While the man continued on, Sam whispered (for the sake of Sera), "Who's that guy?"

"O'Chunks. He's one of Count Bleck's minions. I've fought him before, but this time he may be stronger." Mario said as the longest reply the teenage girls had heard him use so far in this adventure.

"I'm afraid this fellow is terribly misguided..." Tippi said none too quietly. With a stomp of his foot, O'Chunks continued the dialouge.

"Grrrraaa-BARGLE-FARGLE! 'Misguided'? That's not even a real word you squishy bug! An' quit whisperin' back there, lass!" Sam blushed a little at being noticed. "Quit yer yappin' now! It's time for us to settle this once an' fer all!"

"No matter how often we do this, it will end the same...Just step aside!" The Pixl butterfly pleaded with a slight tone of frustration. The bulky man laughed heartily.

"Grah har har har har! Big talk for a wee li'l weird-lookin' butterfly!" Sera took this response to step in as well.

"There's no way you can beat us on your own! Give up!" But O'Chunks just laughed again.

"I'll be wantin' an apology! In writin'! An' I want it written with yer FACE!" Just before the fight could get started, a chillingly familiar voice cut in.

"Salutations, O'Chunks!" Above the red-and-black themed man Dimentio, in all of his purple-and-yellow glory, appeared. Sam felt a slight shiver run up her spine at the unavoidable thought of what would happen later in the game. Sera, having learned of the jester from Ivy, made sure to have a quick attack ready just in case.

"Y-you..." Tippi stuttered.

"Ah! Once again we meet, like two large, hairy vikings on a storm-tossed schooner!" The lighter brunette flinched at the horrible simile.

"What d'yeh want, Dimentio?! I don't be needin' any help! Yeh'll just get in the way!" O'Chunks glared at Dimentio angrily.

"Ah, a quadrillion pardons! Far be it from my to be a hindrance. Far, FAR be it!" Sam thought that she detected a hint of sarcasm in the joker's voice, but she could be absolutely certain about it. "At it happens, I merely have an acquaintance in this land. I was just saying hello!"

The larger man looked a bit suspicious at the coincidence. "Sayin' hello, eh?"

Unhindered by his fellow minion's tone, Dimentio replied while raising his arms, "Yes, truly! And I saw you and I thought, 'Perhaps my magic can aid in this fight!'" As soon as he finished his sentence, the area around the group of heroes, O'Chunks, and the jester had been transformed into the green-themed Dimension D. "Ah, rest assured, I'll hardly be underfoot! You fight to your heart's content! Ciao!" With that, Dimentio disappeared with his usual flair. The bulky man looked impressed.

"Wuh...That doesn't sound too bad, I guess. Maybe I misunderstood that weirdo...Well, anyway, you lot are in fer it now! Meet the new-an'-improved O'Chunks!"

The battle started with O'Chunks jumping high in the air. The group scattered and Sera let loose a quick lightning bolt as she rolled out of the way. "Ow! Yeh should'n'a' done that, girly!" The red-and-black themed man charged toward the trenchcoat-wearing teen with the magic-wielding teen behind her. Luckily, she and Sam had been in that kind of situation before. So when O'Chunks was too close, Sera jumped high in the air to let her curly-haired friend cast her second-most powerful lightning spell right in his face. The blow sent him reeling toward the middle of Dimension D to catch his breath. When the Scottish (Sam thought) man had stopped moving, the elemental controller landed on top of his head, followed by Mario. When the plumber landed after the jump, he sent Thoreau out to grab hold of O'Chunks. He was quickly thrown toward Sam and Sera to jump on his head again. The red-and-black themed man tried jumping onto the group again, but was thwarted by Peach's Parasol Shield protecting them. The teen mage threw a low-level ice spell at O'Chunks' feet, freezing him to the spot for enough time to perform another double jump on his noggin.

"GRRRRA-BLOOOOOOOOORGH! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" O'Chunks yelled in defeat. As if signaling the end of the battle, Dimension D fell apart around the group, leaving them all in the prairie they had left beforehand. The bulky man panted while kneeling on the dusty ground. "BLARGH IT ALL! Bad enough yeh beat me once, but twice is too much teh bear! How can I show me face to the count now that I was beat by two lasses an' a plumber, eh? I CAN'T! Put me out o' me misery!" Sam and Sera glanced at each other. Neither of them had 'put someone out of their misery' before, and they didn't want to start now.

Mario apparently had the same kind of morals, "I'm sorry, O'Chunks. You deserve to live." Bowser looked furious at that answer, but the female members of the group were relieved.

"Get on with it! I'm serious! I've no regrets! Well...No...Perhaps I do regret no confessin' me love teh that sweet lass... BUT NO! That's no way fer a brave warrior teh talk when 'is time comes 'round at last!" Sera rolled her eyes a little bit. "So... Do it! Now! NOW! End me game!" Bowser looked as if he _was_ about to end O'Chunks' game, when Dimentio's all-too-mischievous voice came back.

"Well salutations, O'Chunks! How are things, hmmm?" The purple-and-yellow jester appeared behind O'Chunks instead of above him this time, even though he was still a good three feet off the ground.

"Di-Dimentio! Look, honestly, this is kind o' important! How 'bout some privacy, eh?" The bulky man had turned from begging for an end to his game to flustered in a matter of seconds.

"Yes, yes, of course I understand. Your honor must be satisfied... But O'Chunks... Before you let your game be over, humor poor little me for a bit. I have something I rather think you'll enjoy. I DO wish you would try it out for me."

"YEH CRAZED LOON!" O'Chunks shouted angrily. "It's not the time fer..." He was quickly interrupted by Dimentio.

"Oh...it's not the time, hmm? Not the time for something that will aid Count Bleck?" Sam could have sworn she saw the jester's mask smile even wider than before.

"Ooh... Fer the count, eh? Well, that do change a thing or two... Hmmmm..." After a moment of thinking, the bulky man declared, "Fine, then!" He then turned toward the group. "You lot! Yeh took enough of a beatin' fer today, so I'll let you off easy-like! I tell yeh this though: yeh better work on yer skills by the next time we meet!"

Sam frowned, and Tippi spoke exactly what the curly-haired teen wanted to say to O'Chunks. "Wait, what about all that drivel about not showing your face to the count and such?"

"'EY! SHUT IT! I live fer the count! I couldn't end me game without 'is say-so! Me heart is weak, sure, so I'm done with it! From now on, it's all brawn, no brain!" Both teenagers managed to not laugh at that remark. Bowser chuckled under his breath and, from where Sam was standing, it seemed as if Dimentio's smile was wider still. "The past be nothin' teh me! All that matters is Count Bleck's future! All fer 'im! Chunks away!" O'Chunks waved a little.

"Ah, it is time to part... Ciao!" The bulky man left via...ahem, natural gases, and Dimentio vanished with his flair.

"Man! What a crybaby..." The Koopa King commented (**Gah! More alliteration!**). Mario took the lead toward a strange-looking rock. While the others were trying to figure out what the rock could mean, Sam discovered a familiar gem wedged in the dusty ground right next to the stone. She dug carefully under the eyes of her friend, until the mage managed to pull out the brown-colored jewel. The pressed contact of the sphere with Sam's palm after the digging caused a dark brown light to envelop her. When it faded, Sam's already dark brown hair became a couple of shades darker. Her t-shirt was a light brown, and her jeans held dirt stains that weren't there before.

"Sam...what did you find?" Sera asked with a hint of a threat. Even though she already knew the answer, the trenchcoat-wearing teen was still surprised to find that Sam's light blue eyes had turned chocolate brown as the other girl turned around for eye contact. Even the necklace that the mage wore was now a dirt brown.

"Not Sam...Gaea..." This 'new' girl said quietly. It was as if she didn't really talk very often, and her more observant eyes were a bit unnerving to the Mario-verse inhabitants.

"Bowser, Peach, Mario, I present to you Gaea: My Earth personality." Sera introduced the group with a little bit of nervousness. Gaea stood up and brushed off some of the dust from her knees."She doesn't like to talk very much, so any verbal response from her is a blessing. All the other times, she makes gestures to get her point across."

"Maybe she knows how to solve our problem?" Tippi asked while fluttering a little.

"Please, if you don't mind, will you tell us what we need to do if you know?" Peach asked for the rest of them. Gaea blinked, and then thought for a moment. She then looked as though an idea had come and pointed at Sera's bookbag. Confused, the teen looked through her bag until she pulled out the tablet that Sam had found earliar.

"What's this got to do with what we need to do with this rock?" Ignoring her counterpart, Gaea plucked the stone out of her hands and went to the rock her gem had been buried near. She closed her eyes for a second and placed one hand on the rock with the other still holding the tablet.

"The second one...it's here..." She said loud enough to be heard, and yet still very quiet. "Go around...counterclockwise..." Mario took the hint and flipped into the third dimension. Without the rest of his group seeing, he walked around the stone (now revealed to be in the shape of a Yoshi) in the direction that Gaea had suggested. Within seconds, the second tablet appeared. Mario then jumped to where the stone tablet was and picked it up before flipping back into the second dimension. The now-brown-eyed girl had been staring in that exact spot when the tablet revealed itself.

"She was right! Look here!" Mario held up tablet number two, and then jumped down. Gaea held out a hand, and the second tablet was placed in it.

"This way..." She said quietly yet again. The group followed her across the gap and back to the area that they had last seen the Floro Sapiens and Ivy. The brown-eyed teen pointed in the direction the heroes had to go and kept towards the back after they had passed her. Sera slowed down to match her Earth personality's unhurried pace.

"So, why hasn't Sam taken over again? Doesn't she like her own body?" Gaea looked towards her counterpart with a look that said 'of course, you moron.' She then mimed sleep, followed by pointing towards her own head and lowering her finger to her earlobe. "She's low on MP and wanted you to take over while she recovered some?" Sera translated. Gaea nodded with a small smile.

Soon enough, the group had figured out their way to the next area and the third and final tablet. They then went back to the 'original' area and managed to jump and climb all the way to the top of the 'tower' of stone close to the blocked green pipe.

"Now what?" Bowser complained. They were all in front of three huge stones with small squares carved into them. Gaea, instead of answering, placed a hand on the stone in front of her. Then, without hesitation, placed the tablets in the order of Stone, Water, and Fire on the stones. There was a rumbling, followed by a hammer-shaped Pixl breaking out of the center stone with a shout of joy. Everyone learned that his name was Cudge, and Mario gave him the motto 'Hammers!' to prove that they were the heroes. With their new tool, the group jumped to the ground and busted apart the yellow block in their way. A quick jump into the pipe led the group to an underground cave, where the next part of their adventure began.

* * *

Me: This chapter practically wrote itself!

Sera: A ton of dialouge helps that way.

Me: Please review!


	13. An offer underground

* * *

Me: ...Still can't think of anything witty to write here in the A/Ns...

Sera: I'm surprised you still write them.

Me: Shut up. I only own Sam, Sera, Ivy and Sera's personalities.

* * *

After a minute or so of walking underground, the Mario-verse inhabitants could tell that Gaea was more suited to being in caves such as this one than on the surface. Her brown eyes glittered in the half-light from the naturally forming crystals. Sera already knew about her counterpart's affinity to dark, damp, enclosed spaces, so she wasn't surprised when she stopped at a pillar of rock and put her hand on it.

"A combined stalagtite and stalagmite..." Gaea muttered happily. She then blinked in surprise. "What...?"

"What is it, Gaea?" Sera asked. _Maybe she feels something related to Ivy...?_

"There are...creatures...made of stone..." The darker brunette spoke in wonder. The other teen blinked.

"She must mean the Cragnons!" Tippi fluttered. "Can you tell where they are?" Gaea shook her head.

"Most are too far away...there is one nearby, though." The group of heros looked at each other in confusion and continued on with the Earth controller matching their pace. Soon enough, they saw a Cragnon with reddish coloring and an explorer's outfit talking to himself.

"Coming to you live...from the foul darkness the Floro Sapiens call home. Lesser Cragnons would weep softly. No one has ever set foot in this cave and emerged alive." The Cragnon spoke to himself as if he were a TV announcer. "But some make history with sheer gall and willpower...and Flint Cragley is such a man! CRAGLEY HO! Into the Floro Sapiens Cave of Doom! A Flint Cragley Cragtrotting Adventure!"

Gaea and Sera looked at each other. The lighter brunette twirled her index finger next to her temple and the Earth controller nodded. Mario, Bowser and Peach actually listened to Flint Cragley's ranting, but Sera tuned it out and Gaea just stared at a nearby wall.

"I guess we'll help you guys find the missing crewmen." Sera stated. Everyone agreed except for Gaea, who shook her head.

"I have something I wish to do alone. You can locate the crewmen yourselves easily enough. We shall meet up later." She said firmly. Sera raised an eyebrow at her friend, but the earth controller didn't reply. With a shrug, Sera followed Mario, Peach and Bowser down the nearby pipe.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Gaea followed them down the pipe. After a little while of walking, she managed to find a route in the cave that the other heroes didn't know about, and silently appreciated the crystal formations that were all around her. Unknown to the earth controller, a dark presence was following. At least, it _seemed_ to be unknown to her.

"...Whoever you are, I know you're following me." Gaea slammed her fist into the wall next to her and a rock the size of a person fell above the presence. The rock floated in the air a few inches above it. "What do you want?" A chuckle came from the shadow and Dimentio showed himself to the teen.

"My, it seems that you DO talk when necissary. I merely wished to make your aquaintance since I see that you are a part of this 'Sam' for now." Gaea's eyes hardened. "Ah, she has told you of me, I take it?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I can be of GREAT assistance to you in order to help you find the little green girl. I'm sure she's sitting somewhere in these caverns crying a great river of salty tears because her friends are not around...or perhaps she is under the control of somebody and doing as they ask...?" The jester's mask grinned slyly. The earth controller's eyes flickered with emotion, even if her face was impassive. "All I ask in return is a promise of your services in the near future. What do you say?" Gaea was silent for a moment. Her reply came in a voice unlike her own.

"No, Dimentio. We'll find her ourselves. I'll have no part in ANY plan of yours." He chuckled again at the hate that dripped from Sam's words.

"Ah, but I'm sure you know, dear mage, that ALL great plans leave a little room for improvement. Be sure to remember that for the future. Ciao!" With a snap of his fingers, Dimentio disappeared. Gaea glared, and dropped the rock where the jester used to be. She then continued on through the cave.

* * *

Meanwhile, the heroes plus Sera had finally found the members of Flint Cragley's crew and a shocking discovery.

"The Cragnons are being mind controlled...by plants on their heads..." Sera muttered to herself. Indeed, when the group had entered a certain room that Mario flipped dimensions in, a huge group of mind-controlled Cragnons ran at them. Luckily, everyone had escaped safely, but the blank look on the faces of the stone people haunted their minds. Sera's most of all. She couldn't help but wonder if Ivy had been taken over by one of those plants as well, especially since she didn't have her powers. While the teenager was distracted by her thoughts, the others found out that Flint Cragley had had the key in his pocket all along. Bowser groaned aloud, pulling Sera back to the present.

"I was going to open the door myself, but since you seem so eagar to do it, I shall give you this cave key." Cragley handed the key to Mario, and then jumped down the pipe with his crew. The heroes followed, and opened the door that they had passed earlier. Inside was the third and final rail cart ride within the cave. After everyone jumped inside, Mario flipped to the third dimension to add an extra bit of thrill to the ride. Everyone laughed and acted as if the rail cart was a roller coaster, even Sera stopped contemplating Ivy's predicament and enjoyed herself.

The next room wasn't difficult at all. After using Cudge on a huge block in the path, Sera jumped into the question block and quickly grabbed the star that appeared there. Like the Mario-verse people, she grew in size until her head nearly reached the top of the cave and spent her time stomping on all of the obsticles in her path. When the star's power disappeared, Sera was smiling cheerfully.

Finally, they reached a room with huge glowing crystals. In that room was also Gaea, sitting and staring at the ground in front of her.

"Hey! Gaea!" Tippi's voice snapped the teenager out of her thoughts.

"There's more of those rock-creatures over here..." The brunette pointed towards the other end of the tunnel. A light then flashed and Sam in her normal form appeared where Gaea had been. She had a worried expression on her face.

"What's the matter, Sam?" Peach asked, her blonde eyebrows raised at the younger girl's worry.

"It's...it's nothing. I just saw the Cragnons with the plants on their heads and thought about Ivy." The curly-haired teen smiled a little bit. "Let's go." As the group walked into the next area, Sera couldn't help but look at her friend again. Sam's forehead was creased and her arms were crossed. Apparently she was still worried about something. But, since everyone was within earshot, Sera just frowned and continued on with the group of heroes.

* * *

Me: WOW it's been a long time.

Sera: No kidding.

Me: Uh, review if you're still watching this story, I guess. -sweatdrop-


End file.
